Side line eliminator for automatic looms



June 15, 1937.

J. HETHERINGTON 2,084,140 SIDE LINE ELIMINATOR FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS Filed May 19, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 73 l 1'49 I I 60 a 4 INVENTOR I @7272, ffefhenifyfoh/ M1 Maw/1 ATTORNEYS June 15, 1937.

SIDE LINE E LIM INATOR FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS Filed May 19, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESSES INVENTOR I Jo7zn fliizei z h 2% a I BY y ATTORNEYS J. HETHERINGTON I 2,084,140

Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES SIDE LINE ELIMINATOR FOR AUTOMATIC LOOMS John Hetherington,

a corporation of New Application May 19,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to sideline eliminators for automatic looms, and has for an object to provide an improved construction which may be applied to any desired construction of loom and which will function to eliminate the pulling in of the filling at the selvage as the loom operates.

Another object is to provide an attachment for an automatic loom wherein means will automatically function when the loom is operating to hold all of the filling yarns out of the way while the active shuttle functions.

An additional and more specific object is to provide an attachment for looms adapted to be applied near the shuttle box and adapted to be 1 automatically actuated by the shuttle box when more than one shuttle is used to hold out of the way all filling threads except the one from the active shuttle.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of part of a loom with an embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

Flg. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view through Fig. 1 approximately on the line 2-2;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through Fig. 2 approximately on the line 3-3;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the operating levers and straps embodying certain features of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing portions of the straps illustrated in Fig. 4, the various cords associated therewith, and sections of filling yarn from four shuttles;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of a fragmentary piece of 35 cloth showing one selvage edge, the cloth having been woven on a loom with the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the faulty construction of the selvage as is com- 40 monly produced in various automatic looms using more than one shuttle.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, l indicates the frame of a loom and 2 the arch thereof. The loom has been shown very fragmentary in order to emphasize the construction of the sideline eliminator. The loom illustrated is a Crompton and Knowles loom, but it is evident that the invention could be readily applied to other makes of looms without departing from the spirit of the invention. In looms of all kinds which are automatic and which use more than one shuttle, the selvage is quite often faulty and the various faiflts must be rectified in the usual hurling and mending department which adds expense to the manufacture of the cloth which would otherwise be avoided. In the present invention means have been attached to the loom which will prevent the drawing in of loose yarn as indicated by the numeral 3 in Fig. 7. Also 60 other loose selvage portions 4 are presented quite Trenton, N. J., assignor to Princeton Worsted Mills,

Inc., Trenton, N. 1., Jersey 1936, Serial No. 80,506

often in fabric produced by automatic looms. These faults, as above mentioned, must be eliminated before the cloth is saleable and this additional work adds unnecessary expense.

In the present invention means have been provided to present a smooth uniform selvage as indicated in Fig. 6. In the cloth 5 of Fig. 6 all the shuttles of the loom have been used, as for instance four as illustrated in Fig. 1. It will be observed that one shuttle, as for instance the lowermost shuttle, is used in such a way as to produce the selvage member 6 with the two filling yarns 1 at certain intervals. For instance, the yarn 6 may be a given color and the remaining yarns in the shuttles may be white so that the filling member 1 will produce a very narrow colored stripe. It is of course understood that the shuttles may be used in any desired order as is customary in loom work.

As shown in Fig. 1, the loom box 8 is provided with cells 9, l0, H and I2 for receiving the respective shuttles l3, l4, l5 and Hi. This is the usual construction and arrangement of shuttle box and will therefore need no additional description. This shuttle box is raised and lowered in the usual manner by the box lifter chain. Rod I9 is connected at [8 to the box lifter chain I1 passing over the sprocket wheel N. This rod is pivotally connected at 20 to the color indicator lever 2| which swings on a suitable pivotal pin 22 carried by the loom arch 2 and is operated with the shuttle box. The cam bar 23, as shown in Fig. 1, may be directly connected to lever 2| but preferably bar 23 is provided with a right angle extension 24 having a slot 25. A pivotal bolt 26 extends through this slot and through a link 21 which is clamped by a suitable U-bolt 28 to the lever 2|. By reason of this construction the cam rod or bar 23 is reciprocated in proper time to the movement of the shuttle box.

In Fig. 1 it will be observed that the bar 23 is provided with an inclined portion 29 which acts as a cam to raise the various levers 3E], 3i and 32. As shown in Fig. 4, lever 3| is straight while the levers 39 and 32 at one end are offset in opposite directions so as to provide ample space between the lever sections 33, 34 and 35 for the cam 29 to function. The lever sections just mentioned are pivotally mounted on a. rod 36 which is surrounded by spacing sleeves 31 and 38 to hold the respective levers spaced at desired distances apart. The pin or rod 36 is mounted on a bracket 31 secured in any desired way to what may be termed the back frame 38 of the loom. The bracket 31 is provided with a guide plate 39 for the cam bar 23 so that it will be guided in a direct back and forth movement as the lever 21 moves.

Associated with the levers 30 to 32 are cord operating members 40, 4| and 42 as shown in Fig. 4. These members may be metal, fabric,

leather or other desired material, but preferably are of some material which is more or less flexible, although this 'is not essential. The straps 48 to 42 are connected by'suitable links 43 to the respective levers to as to be pulled upwardly function. Eyelets 44, 45

respective cords 47, 48 and49. These cords are preferably textile fabric' cords .although they could be made of wire or other material" without departing from the spirit of the invention. The eyelets are positioned so thattheywill be somewhere in the zone of the reeds 50 as shown in Fig. 1.

At their lower ends, thevarious straps 40 to 42 are connected by metal links or other members 5ito the respective pull-down levers 52, 53 and 54. The pull-down levers, as shown in Fig. 1, are all swingably mounted on the pivotal pin 55 which is carried by a bracket 56. The bracket 56 is secured to some part of the frame of the loom and is provided with an extension 51 to which the springs 56 are secured. It will be understood that there is one spring 58 for each of the pull-down levers 52, 53 and 54. The springs 58 are under tension at all times and continually tend to pull down the straps 40 to 42 inclusive'. However, the levers 39 to 32 are adapted to pull these straps upwardly against the action of. the pull-down levers as the cam 29 moves to the right as shown in Fig. 1. The first strap pulled up will be strap 46, then strap -4l and finally strap 42.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 it will be readily seen that the cord 41 carried by strap 40 holds the filling yarn from shuttle 16 elevated. It will also be noted that the cord 48 carried by strap 4| is above the filling yarn from shuttle l4 and holds the same down. The cord 49 carried by strap 42 is below the filling yarn of shuttle 14 but above the filling yarn of shuttle l3, and consequently holds this filling yarn down when only strap 461s raised. This forms in a certain sense a shed for the active shutle l5. In this way all of the filling yarns not immediately functioning will be held out of the Waysothat the filling yarn from shuttle [5 will not contact with or in any way influence any of the other filling yarns. The result is that the filling yarn from shuttle l5 will make a neat smooth selvage loop.

It will be understood that the shuttles may be operated in any desired order and'in the usual way. For instance, shuttle l5 may be used quite often or only in rotation and the same is true of the other shuttles. As is usual, the'shuttle box is raised or lowered to cause any particular shuttle to function, and as it is'raised and lowered cam bar 23 will function to raise or release any of the straps 46 to 42. For instance, if the shuttle box was loweredso that the shuttle l6 was to function or to become the active shuttle, cam bar 23 would move to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, and the pull lever 52 would pull the cord 4? downwardly until it moved the yarn from the shuttle 55 to a point almost in contact with the lay 56. By operating as just described, all of the non-functioning yarns willbe held out of the way and the yarn from the shuttle I 6 may then function properly to provide the desired filling with the desired selvage loops at each edge of the fabric being woven.

From Fig. 2 it will be observed that the various cords 4'! to 49 are secured by a suitable clamp 32 inclusiveso by these levers as they {and 46,-are fitted into the respective straps so as to accommodate the;

6| to some part of the frame of the loom or to a bracket secured to the frame of the loom. These cords extend to somewhere near the rear of the loom or at any convenient point back of the reeds 50 and are secured together by a suitable clamp 62. A strap 63 is secured in any suitable way to clamp 62 and said strap passes .over a freely rotatable drum or pulley 64 so that the spring 65 connected to bracket 86 may maintain a desired tension thereon.

It will be understood that the invention may be applied to any desired automatic loom having shuttle boxes accommodating two or more shuttles. After the attachment has been connected up as shown" in the drawings, it will function automatically as the shuttle box is shifted up and down in the usual way. By holding all of the filling yarns except the yarn from the active shuttle in certain prescribed positions, the filling yarn from the active shuttle may be woven in without catching on either the cords or the held filling yarns. As shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the straps and other parts are arranged at one side of the loom and at a part which will not in any way interfere with weaving the cloth of any desired width. Also from Fig. 1 it will be noted that there is provided a grate 61 which guides the respective levers 30 to 32 so as to hold the straps properly suspended directly above the outer ends of the pull-down levers 52 to 5 inclusive.

I claim:

1. A sideline eliminator for an automatic loom having a shuttle box and a shuttle box shifting mechanism comprising a plurality of vertically arranged straps positioned near said shuttle box and extending above and below the same, a holding cord extending through each of said straps, spring actuated means connected to said straps at their lower ends for tending to move the straps downwardly, a lever connected to each of the straps adjacent their upper ends, a reciprocating cam for raising said levers successively, and means for connecting said cam with the shuttle box shifting mechanism so that the cam will function in time with the shuttle box for raising and lowering holding cords, said holding cords being positioned to engage and hold all of the filling yarns from the shuttles of the shuttle box out of the way except the filling yarn from the active shuttle.

2. The combination with an automatic loom having a shuttle box provided with a plurality of cells for accommodating a plurality of shuttles, of means for holding the yarn from all of the inactive shuttles in the cells of said shuttle box out of the path of movement of the working shuttle, said means including a plurality of yarn holding members, a vertically movable raising and lowering member for each of said yarn holding members, a lever positioned above the raising and lowering members for each of said raising and lowering members, a link connecting the respective raising and lowering members and said lever, a link connected to the lower end of the respective raising and lowering members, a lowering lever connected to each of the last mentioned links, a. spring for each of said lowering levers tending to swing said lowering levers downwardly, and means actuated by the movement of said shuttle box as it is raised and lowered to swing said levers so that they may move upwardly and downwardly.

JOHN HETHERINGTON. 

